If you have flu-like symptoms, stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.

Get a seasonal flu vaccine.

Eat a balanced diet.

Exercise on a regular basis and get plenty of rest

Prepare a Health Kit:

Most individuals who develop flu symptoms can recover at home with little or no medical intervention. However, appropriate self-care is important. We encourage all members of our living and learning communities to prepare a health kit for self-care during the flu season.

Contents should include:

TRAVEL MEDICINE

We do offer pre-travel medical visits for students planning international travel. Services include recommended travel vaccinations, malaria prophylaxis and medical travel advice. The Hammond Health Center has been designated by the New York State Department of Health as a Yellow Fever Vaccination Center. We recommend that students schedule their pre-travel medical visits at least 4-6 weeks prior to their departure abroad. They should bring a copy of all their prior vaccination records and their exact travel itinerary to the visit.

BEING SEEN AT THE HEALTH CENTER

To see the MD/PA/NP or RN, there is no charge for the actual visit. Regarding billing for all other services, please go to the Billing section under General Information on this site.

Should you make an appointment or come as a work-in? Appointments are always preferred and we also have same day acute appointment openings. Call us at 274-3754 and see if there are any available for that day. Work-ins are seen on a first-come-first-serve basis. During peak times (12pm-2pm) wait times may be lengthy. Work-ins are reserved for acute problems, not chronic illnesses. Not all illnesses can be handled via work-in appointment, as some require a longer time period with a physician. It is always best to call before coming into the Health Center, in the event an actual appointment is needed. Physical exams or annual pap exams are never performed on a work-in basis, as the time needed is too lengthy.

A NOTE TO YOUR PROFESSORS THAT YOU WERE SEEN AT THE HEALTH CENTER

We do not provide a written excuse that you were seen at the Health Center. Your professors are aware that we do not issue 'blue notes' documenting students visits at the Health Center. This was initiated in Spring 2005 after extensive discussion and support of the Provost and the Faculty Council. Students should promptly and proactively communicate with their instructors if they are ill and need to miss class. When necessary in a prolonged, severe or unusual illness, we will assist with documentation after obtaining signed release of information forms.

MEDICATION ROOM

We have a dispensary from which we can provide students with frequently prescribed medications for their acute medical issues. Other medications, including those prescribed by a student’s home health care provider, can be filled by a local pharmacy.

Wegmans pharmacy delivers prescription medications to our medication room twice a day during the week, and students can pick them up from us without leaving campus.

If you are already on any regular or continuing medications, you can have your physician call the prescription directly in to Wegmans Pharmacy at (607) 277-1772 (phone) or (607) 277-5890 (fax) and they will fill and deliver it to the Hammond Health Center Medication Room for you to pick up on campus. If you have private insurance, you can get your card on file directly at Wegmans, or you can bring the card to the Hammond Health Center and we will copy and fax it to Wegmans for you. Wegmans Pharmacy delivers to the Hammond Health Center medication room Mon-Fri twice a day. If prescriptions are picked up at the Hammond Health Center, students can place any balances or co-payments due on their student financial services accounts OR can use cash, check, credit card, or ID Express. If prescriptions are picked up in person at Wegmans, however, the student’s college account cannot be used.

Our Medication Room also stocks and sells commonly used over the counter medications such as Tylenol, ibuprofen, OTC pregnancy tests, throat lozenges, Mucinex, band-aids, and thermometers. Come in and ask and we will be happy to go over what we can offer over the counter.

LABORATORY TESTING

Will my insurance cover these tests? If tests are being performed in the Hammond Health Center laboratory there will be no charge for these tests, unless they are ordered by an outside or home physician. If we are sending your lab tests to an outside lab, there will be charges which may be covered by insurance. You should check with your individual insurance company regarding coverage-usually the phone number is on the back of your card. Your parents may have already checked on this before you came to college, you may also want to consult with them. Ithaca College student group insurance covers 80% of in network charges and 60% of out of network charges for laboratory testing, once you have met your deductible of $150.

Can you bill my parent's health insurance? Hammond Health Center does not bill to insurance directly, and again, if tests are being performed in our laboratory there will be no charge for these tests, unless ordered by an outside or home physician. If you incur any charges from our laboratory, we will provide an itemized bill with diagnoses and CPT codes that insurance companies require for your submission. If we are sending your lab tests to an outside lab, the outside laboratory will bill your health insurance, as long as we can provide them with all of your current insurance information. This is why it is important that you bring your insurance card with you when you visit the Hammond Health Center.

Will somebody contact me with my lab results? We will provide you with the phone number to reach the lab result nurse. She will give you the test information as well as additional information or instructions from the provider after he/she reviews your results. Individual providers may make alternative arrangements on a case by case basis to contact you directly with results.

Will my results get faxed to my (home) doctor? Yes, if you have signed a release of information form to allow us to send the results.

If my doctor at home sends in orders, can I have my blood drawn here? Yes, in most cases we will draw your blood and then send it out to our reference laboratory for analysis.

How long will it take to get my results? This is variable depending on the test, but the average turn around time for most tests is 48 hours. We will provide this information at the time of collection for any given test.